收養(yǎng)被遺棄的小獵豹
弗吉尼亞，被遺棄的小獵豹進(jìn)入俄勒岡州的新家庭收養(yǎng)
周二，弗吉尼亞州史密森尼的一窩新崽誕生了
達(dá)娜·赫奇佩斯 (Dana Hedgpeth)
2021 年 10 月 12 日下午 2:03美東時(shí)間
一只將近 3 周大的小獵豹被母親遺棄并在弗吉尼亞州國(guó)家動(dòng)物園的設(shè)施中用奶瓶喂養(yǎng)，它在俄勒岡州找到了一個(gè)新家，里面有一只獵豹養(yǎng)母和她的幼崽。
國(guó)家動(dòng)物園的姊妹機(jī)構(gòu)——弗吉尼亞州弗朗特羅亞爾的史密森尼保護(hù)生物學(xué)研究所 (SCBI) 的官員說，這只小獵豹安全地回到了俄勒岡州溫斯頓野生動(dòng)物園的新家，在那里它遇到了新獵豹家庭并且過得很好。
在皇家前線的研究所，官員們表示，他們周二還迎來了五只新生的獵豹。他們的母親羅莎莉在大約六個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)分娩并產(chǎn)下了五只幼崽。
國(guó)家動(dòng)物園的官員說，這些新生的幼崽“看起來不錯(cuò)”。
另一只小獵豹于 9 月 16 日出生，但它是三只小獵豹中唯一幸存下來的，并被它的母親、7 歲的 Sukiri 遺棄。 SCBI 的獵豹專家 Adrienne Crosier 表示，雌性獵豹“無法照顧一只幼崽”，因?yàn)樗鼈儧]有足夠的泌乳刺激。
（在國(guó)家動(dòng)物園的姊妹設(shè)施觀看獵豹幼崽的奶瓶喂養(yǎng)）
他出生后，他的母親照顧他并檢查了他一夜，但第二天早上就拋棄了他。
“這聽起來很刺耳，但這是一種非常自然的行為，”克羅西爾說。官員們說 Sukiri “做得很好”，他們計(jì)劃在春天再次嘗試繁殖她。
Crosier 說，看護(hù)人員介入并開始全天候用奶瓶喂養(yǎng)她的幼崽。專家說，在 17 天的時(shí)間里，他每隔幾個(gè)小時(shí)就用奶瓶喂食，并保持在溫度受控的環(huán)境中。
Crosier 說，為了安慰，他被毛絨動(dòng)物包圍著，所以他“感覺自己有一個(gè)朋友”。通常，當(dāng)它們的母親離開時(shí)，幼崽會(huì)堆在一起，但他沒有另一只幼崽可以擁抱，所以“我們把這些動(dòng)物給了他，”她說。
獵豹飼養(yǎng)員說，他們知道俄勒岡州的一個(gè)繁育設(shè)施很快就會(huì)有另一窩獵豹出生，他們認(rèn)為如果能讓他們的小獵豹加入那里的其他新生幼崽，那將是一個(gè)很好的匹配。所以他們開始協(xié)調(diào)把它帶到俄勒岡州。
10 月 3 日，他與看護(hù)人乘坐包機(jī)飛往俄勒岡州。
Crosier 說，與一只幼崽一起飛行六個(gè)小時(shí)的飛行是“緊張的”，每隔幾個(gè)小時(shí)就必須喂食一次，大部分時(shí)間她都把它抱在腿上，每次喂食時(shí)都要給它加熱奶瓶。
“他是一名士兵，”克羅西爾說。
（Delta變種在國(guó)家動(dòng)物園的covid爆發(fā)期間差點(diǎn)殺死一頭獅子）
但是一旦他們著陸，就有一個(gè)問題——他的氣味。
Crosier 說，看守人從寄養(yǎng)的獵豹家族的巢穴中帶來干草，并將其放入他的載體中，這樣如果他“聞起來像獵豹”而不是身上有人類的氣味，他們就可以增加他被新媽媽接受的機(jī)會(huì)。
然后他遇到了他的新家人。
“把他和另一個(gè)獵豹家族放在一起非常傷腦筋，”克羅西爾說。
Crosier 說，起初，當(dāng)他遇到他的新獵豹家族時(shí)，他感到很困惑。
“他只和自己的母親住了一晚，”克羅西爾說。 “他花了幾個(gè)小時(shí)才適應(yīng)他的新媽媽?！?br>
Crosier 說他的新獵豹媽媽 Jezebel 有著“完美的氣質(zhì)”。
“她很歡迎他，”克羅西爾說。 “她把他納入了小組，給他梳洗，并確保他很溫暖?！?br>
到了晚上，克羅西爾說，“他和每個(gè)人都在一起”，和他的新獵豹媽媽和四個(gè)新兄弟姐妹一起睡覺。
Crosier 說，小獵豹面臨的最大挑戰(zhàn)之一是記住如何哺乳，但他的本能開始發(fā)揮作用。
“與活生生的有皮毛且非常溫暖的雌性相比，他已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了人，也習(xí)慣了帶橡膠奶嘴的瓶子，”克羅西爾說。
大約 24 小時(shí)后，他得到了它。
Crosier 說她很高興他在他的新獵豹家過得很好。
“人類不是小幼崽應(yīng)該玩耍的人，”克羅西爾說。 “我知道這對(duì)他和他的發(fā)展來說是最好的?！?/p>
Crosier 說，對(duì)于被遺棄的獵豹幼崽，如果它們由獵豹媽媽撫養(yǎng)，那么后期繁殖的成功率會(huì)更高。
與此同時(shí)，在弗吉尼亞州，史密森學(xué)會(huì)的看護(hù)人正在密切關(guān)注這五只新生獵豹和它們的母親羅莎莉，因?yàn)樗堑谝淮萎?dāng)媽媽。
“這總是讓我們更加擔(dān)心，因?yàn)樗麄儾恢罆?huì)發(fā)生什么，而我們也不知道會(huì)發(fā)生什么，”克羅西爾說。到中午時(shí)，官員們說這五只幼崽正在哺乳，但警告說，在人類護(hù)理的第一個(gè)月內(nèi)，獵豹有可能死亡。是的，有一個(gè)獵豹幼崽相機(jī)。
官員們表示，在他們?cè)噲D弄清楚幼崽的性別之前，他們將讓羅莎莉媽媽有時(shí)間“與幼崽建立聯(lián)系并照顧它們”。他們說這些幼崽看起來“強(qiáng)壯、活躍，[和]聲音很大?！?br>
遇見一群“不可思議的”獵豹幼崽
新生兒與該研究所的其他 26 只獵豹一起，該研究所于 2007 年開放，有兩只獵豹。他們的父親尼克是 2010 年在繁育中心出生的第一只獵豹。
Crosier 說，所有的看護(hù)人和工作人員都對(duì)俄勒岡州雄性獵豹寶寶成功寄養(yǎng)家庭以及弗吉尼亞州的新生獵豹感到“興奮”。
“我們期待更多的獵豹幼崽，”她說。
Abandoned baby cheetah in Virginia is adopted by new family in Oregon
A new litter was born Tuesday at the Smithsonian facility in Virginia
A baby cheetah born in September at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., was abandoned by its mother. It was recently adopted by a new cheetah family in Oregon. (Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute)
By ?Dana Hedgpeth
October 12, 2021 at 2:03 p.m. EDT
A nearly 3-week-old baby cheetah that was abandoned by its mother and bottle-fed at the National Zoo’s facility in Virginia has found a new home with a cheetah foster mom and her cubs in Oregon.
Officials with the National Zoo’s sister facility — the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Va. — said the baby cheetah made it safely to its new home at the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Ore., where it met its new cheetah family and is doing well.
And at the institute in Front Royal, officials said they also have welcomed five newborn cheetahs Tuesday. Their mother, Rosalie, went into labor and delivered the five cubs in about six hours.
Officials at the National Zoo, said the newborn cubs “l(fā)ook good.”
The other baby cheetah was born Sept. 16, but he was the only one of a litter of three that survived and was abandoned by its mother, 7-year-old Sukiri. Female cheetahs are “unable to care for a single cub” because they don’t have enough milk stimulation, according to Adrienne Crosier, cheetah specialist at SCBI.
His mother nursed him after he was born and checked on him overnight but abandoned him the next morning.
“It sounds harsh, but it’s a very natural behavior,” Crosier said. Officials said Sukiri is “doing just fine,” and they plan to try to breed her again in the spring.
A baby cheetah is bottle-fed at the National Zoo's facility in Front Royal, Va. Its sibling cubs were stillborn, and its mother abandoned it, experts said. (Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute)
Caretakers stepped in and started bottle-feeding her cub around-the-clock, Crosier said. He was bottle-fed every few hours for 17 days and kept in a temperature-controlled environment, experts said.
For comfort, he was surrounded by stuffed animals so he’d “feel like he has a friend,” Crosier said. Normally cubs pile together when their mother leaves, but he didn’t have another cub to cuddle with, so “we gave him the animals,” she said.
A cheetah cub abandoned by its mother sleeps with a stuffed animal at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va. (Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute)
Cheetah caretakers said they knew there was another litter of cheetahs being born soon at a breeding facility in Oregon, and they thought it would be a good match if they could get their baby cheetah to join the other newborn cubs there. So they started coordinating to take it to Oregon.
On Oct. 3, he flew on a chartered flight with caretakers to Oregon.
Crosier said it was “intense” taking a six-hour flight with a young cub that had to be fed every few hours, and she held him on her lap most of the time and warmed his bottles for each feeding.
“He was a trooper,” Crosier said.
But once they landed there was one issue — his smell.
The caretakers brought hay from the foster cheetah family’s den and put it in his carrier so they could increase his chances of being accepted by his new mom if he “smelled like a cheetah” rather than have a human scent on him, according to Crosier.
Then he met his new family.
“It was very nerve-racking to put him with another cheetah family,” Crosier said.
At first, Crosier said, he was confused when he met his new cheetah family.
“He only had one night with his own mother,” Crosier said. “It took him several hours to warm up to his new mother.”
Crosier said his new cheetah mom, Jezebel, had the “perfect temperament.”
“She was welcoming to him,” Crosier said. “She incorporated him in the group, groomed him and made sure he was warm.”
By night time, Crosier said, “he was in the pile with everybody,” sleeping with his new cheetah mom and four new siblings.
One of the biggest challenges for the baby cheetah, Crosier said, was remembering how to nurse but his instincts kicked in.
“He was used to people and to a bottle with a rubber nipple compared with a living female that has fur and is very warm,” Crosier said.
After about 24 hours he got it.
Crosier said she’s happy he’s doing well at his new cheetah home.
“Humans are not who little cubs should be playing with,” Crosier said. “I knew this was going to be the best for him and his development.”
A male baby cheetah, right, that was abandoned by its mother at a facility in Front Royal, Va., is shown with his new adopted cheetah family in Oregon. (Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute)
For cheetah cubs that are abandoned, Crosier said, there’s a better success rate of breeding later if they’re raised by a cheetah mother.
Meanwhile in Virginia, caretakers at the Smithsonian institute are watching the five newborn cheetahs and their mother Rosalie closely, as she’s a first-time mom.
“That always makes us more concerned because they don’t know what to expect, and we don’t know what to expect,” Crosier said. By midday, officials said the five cubs were nursing but cautioned that there’s a chance of mortality within the first month for cheetahs in human care. And yes, there is a cheetah cub camera.
Officials said they’ll allow mama Rosalie time to “bond with and care for her cubs” before they try to figure out the cubs’ sexes. They said the cubs seem “strong, active, [and] vocal.”
The newborns join 26 other cheetahs at the institute, which opened in 2007 with two cheetahs. Their dad, Nick, was the first cheetah born at the breeding center in 2010.
Crosier said all the caretakers and staff are “thrilled” about the successful foster family for the baby male cheetah in Oregon and about the newborn cheetahs in Virginia.
“We’re looking forward to more cheetah cubs,” she said.
